Making it Count
by Sunrise Vale
Summary: Slightly AU. Set after "Spring Break Up." What if Zoey had received Chase's second text message? Oneshot.


**Title: Making It Count**

**Disclaimer: Laddy daddy da, every character and most settings belong to the people who created Zoey 101.**

**Summary: After Spring Break-Up, what if the IM to Zoey's TekMate had actually reached Zoey?**

**Pairing: Zoey/Chase, C/Z, Z/C, no matter how you put it, Zoey and Chase end up together. Maybe other pairings.**

**A/N: Don't kill me. First fic in Zoey 101 world. I'm normally a 2nd rate H/Hr HP writer (No bashing me, please). May be AU; I watch most eps, but my busy schedule doesn't let me see them all. Also, my imagination tends to run away with me.**

**Chapter One: $#+** (clever, no? LOL)

_The message said…I LOVE YOU_.

I looked at my TekMate seriously. Did I really want to send this, possibly ruin my chance of a relationship (friendly or otherwise) with Zoey Brooks, my best friend and crush of almost two years? Yup, I thought. That's exactly what I want. I hit **SEND**, and didn't wait for the familiar beep of Zoey's TekMate. Instead, I walked out of the Lounge and ran all the way to my dorm, locked the door, and hid inside my bed. I was so incredibly afraid of what would happen next. Ha. Total understatement. I was friggin _terrified out of my mind_.

**Meanwhile…**

My legs hurt. I'm not normally this selfish, but I couldn't help but think 'Hey, I'm on the show, scoot your butts over and make room.' But I could never be that rude. Not to people who didn't deserve it, anyways. Unless I was PMSing. Then _everyone_ deserved rudeness.

Then, a familiar beep sounded and my hip started vibrating. My TekMate had received an IM. I flipped it open with expert ease and browsed the message. My world stopped.

No. Joke. My hands wouldn't move, my eyes kept scanning the text, my legs were ready to run and keel over at the same time, and my heart was ready to set a new record for speed. I dropped my TekMate and ran. Ran all the way to Chase's dorm. I burst through the door to find a blank Chase. Blank. No emotion. Zilch. Just sitting there, reading a magazine. It was like he didn't care. At. All.

"What the heck, Chase?" I asked. He stood up, carefully avoiding my eye. I got the game; this charade would last as long as he didn't make eye contact. He could always be read through his eyes.

"Sup, Zo?" was his reply. I was furious. I wanted answers. I wanted reasons. I wanted him to stop looking at the damn floor, it is not that friggin interesting!

I stood there for a few seconds. Neither of us made a move. The silence made my heart hurt. My best friend, the guy who _apparently_ loved me, wouldn't look at me or talk to me. Wouldn't show me his amber eyes, or talk in his goofy voice.

That's when I realized it. If we didn't do something, soon, our friendship would be gone. No more heartfelt talks, or dumb jokes, or grape trading. We'd be back to acquaintances, and I couldn't live with that. I loved him too much for that.

Wait, loved? Oh, $#!!!!!!

I had been awaiting Zo's arrival, trying to drown my sorrows in a random magazine. When she came it, I almost cried. I had failed. I had always promised myself to never let Zoey get hurt, physically or mentally. It's a guy thing. But she looked hurt, sad, furious, and…dare I say it? Was that a light in her eyes?

Her first and only words brought me back to reality. I averted my eyes. I wouldn't let her see how much it hurt me to do this, but she couldn't love me; it just wasn't a reasonable option. Girls like Zoey, no matter how smart or gorgeous (and she was **_definitely_** both), fell for guys like Logan in the end; Handsome, conceited, smart but dumb at the same time.

She figured it out. Her posture became rigid, disbelieving, calculating. Zoey was trying to figure out my angle. My reason for the iced shoulder. My heart hurt like hell, breaking over and over again as I thought about how much Zoey couldn't feel the same way. We, as friends or whatever we were, were over. I was positive.

Then she kissed me.

To say I was…shocked, no…completely flabbergasted, was an understatement. There I was, thinking that our friendship was over, when she took two steps, grabbed the back of my neck, and kissed me. It was so unreal, I had to be hallucinating. It was impossible, improbable, foreign…and oh so _good_.

Zoey was kissing me.

_Zoey_ was kissing me.

Zoey _was_ kissing me.

Zoey was _kissing_ me.

Zoey was kissing _me._

_Zoey was kissing me._

That pretty much sums it up. Then I kissed her back. Hey, never said I was complaining, did I?

I had to be completely _insane_.

Not only was I in the middle of a guy's room, kissing my best friend who loved me like there was no tomorrow (and possibly no today).

I was _liking_ it. Hell, I was _loving_ it!

Kissing Chase was nowhere like I thought it would be. I had figured that I was delusional, thinking I loved him. I thought it would be like kissing Dustin. But if I **ever** kissed Dustin like I was kissing Chase, I would be put in jail.

Chase was stiff as a board. For a few seconds, anyway. Then he kissed me back. One arm went around my waist, pulling me closer. The other went on my cheek, warm and soft. I moved one of my hands from his neck to his hair. Hmm…I've always wanted to run my fingers through his hair.

Now, our actions were completely enjoyable but, unfortunately, humans tend to require oxygen to continue the process called life. We broke apart, Chase's hand still on my cheek. I leaned my forehead against his and smiled. He smiled too, and started caressing my cheek.

"Hey, Zo?" he asked a few minutes later. We were sitting on his bed, me sitting between his legs and leaning against him as he ran his fingers through my hair. One of our hands were intertwined. I smiled lazily.

"Yeah?"

"I love you, Zoey Brooks."

"I love you too, Chase Matthews."

**END**

**Short, I know. It's not completely over, though. Well, this one is, but there might be a follow up. Review, my pretties!**

**-- Sage**


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